http://www.mennoniteusa.orgWebsite for the Mennonite Church USAen-USCopyright 2008 by MCUSAchrisr@mennoniteusa.org Back when I lived in the Appalachian Mountains and only made occasional visits to relatives in Kans...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 21 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1274 There are few in North America who don’t recall the horrifying pictures and stories from the southe...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 20 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1273 I began taking piano lessons with Mrs. Bell in third or fourth grade. I continued with her until we...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 19 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1272 Perhaps none of this year’s news stories illustrates the importance of being ready as that of U.S. ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1271 In October 1982, when I was a senior at Goshen (Indiana) College, one of my classmates, Mark Schmuc...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 17 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1270 In 2002, I spent three months in Guatemala City studying Spanish. For about half that time, I lived...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 16 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1269 Recently I watched a video of a speech that Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Corporation, gave to i...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 15 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1268 As a child, I visited the Western Wall of Old Jerusalem—the remains of Herod’s temple, destroyed by...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 14 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1267 I was raised to be suspicious of Christians who made too much of saints, especially if they prayed ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 13 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1266 I remember the day in 2006 when I heard that a leading megachurch pastor in the United States unexp...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 12 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1265 The sixth-century monk Benedict of Nursia grew up in Italy at a time when the Roman Empire was crum...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 11 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1264 In 1665, the bubonic plague came to the English vil­lage of Eyam. Instead of fleeing and spreading ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 10 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1263 A few years ago, a former colleague was in palliative care, just days away from his final farewell....http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 09 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1262 What images does the word mission bring to mind? Do you think of a religious order or a church plan...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 08 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1261 The elderly woman squeezed onto the bench among crowds of people who had gathered for the Early Lea...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 07 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1260 The first five books of the Old Testament devote chapters to the establishment of Israel’s system o...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 06 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1259 When was the last time you shared your faith with someone? If you easily remember when, you are fol...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 05 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1258 Sometimes I become so familiar with something that I don’t think about its significance. Recently, ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 04 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1257 At first reading, Psalm 33:13 is quite amazing. Wow! God sees us all! After a few moments it become...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1256 Have you ever watched children pick teams for play­ground games? The good players are quickly snatc...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 02 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1255 I have great respect for my spiritual heritage. I grew up in a faith tradition that was part of the...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 01 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1254 One of the most difficult times in my life was when my sons were two and three years old. My husban...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 31 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1253 I am amazed at the power of the wind. A year ago in summer, my husband and I vacationed in Prince E...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 30 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1252 Waiting is not something that comes easily to me. It seems like forever when I am praying and waiti...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 29 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1251 I admire people who have good memories. My dad, now 76 years old, has a knack for remembering thing...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 28 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1250 If you have ever watched an eagle soar, you know of its power and broad wingspan. While other birds...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 27 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1249 Just above my kitchen sink is a ledge that holds an interesting collection of treasured possessions...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 26 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1248 The people of Jericho have grown tired of Bartimaeus. They readily give him a coin or a crust of br...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 25 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1247 Some years ago, our family traveled to Switzerland. We took a train to Interlaken and then a cable ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 24 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1246 Our older son soon begins his senior year of college. So far his studies have taken him to Peru and...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 23 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1245 I don’t have much in common with the rich man. While I have a lot, I am not rich—at least not by No...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 22 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1244 A man asks Jesus to intervene in a family dispute over property. It seems like a reasonable request...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 21 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1243 Today’s reading calls to mind a scene from the film The Return of the King—the third of a series ba...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 20 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1242 As I write this, our family is in the process of mov­ing. It is a stressful and exciting time. I...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 19 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1241 Several years ago, while driving home from work, our minister noticed a neighbor working with great...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 18 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1240 From the beginning of time, God has made covenants with people. Covenants are agreements between tw...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 17 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1239 As I read this Scripture, I hear the mournful strains of Handel’s Messiah in the background, lament...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 16 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1238 Most of the time, it stretches my imagination to believe that God’s glory and magnificence could be...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 15 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1237 Years ago, in a business deal involving a fellow church member, my husband and I made a hard choice...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 14 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1236 I have loved this Scripture since I was a child. Perhaps my attraction had something to do with the...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 13 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1235 What does our excelling in generosity (v. 7) have to do with the story of God’s relationship with h...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 12 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1234 As I look at my life and at the world around me, I see many things that seem impossible. Peace in t...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 11 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1233 For my father-in-law’s funeral last year, we sang the familiar words of “Amazing Grace”:  Am...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 10 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1232 The Bible doesn’t flinch from the harsh realities of life. Even in this psalm of praise, there is a...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 09 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1231 Good news is meant to be shared! When I was first engaged to be married, I was excited to tell all ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 08 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1230 It seems that everyone is “going green” these days. My husband and I recently bought a hybrid car. ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 07 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1229 For one of our church prayer meetings last January, our theme was the church as “a covenanting comm...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 06 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1228 When I started in pastoral ministry years ago, one of my mentors was our then area conference minis...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 05 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1227 Nature often reveals to us the glories of God. In autumn, those glories appear as a leaf turn color...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 04 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1226 Recently I spoke with a plant manager of a compa­ny that would soon relocate to my community. I ask...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 03 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1225 The homemade poster on the store window read: “Girl Scouts willing to home sit your pet.” The sign ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 02 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1224 A summer flash flood caught our community by sur­prise. Overnight six inches of rain fell. Water fr...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 01 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1223 As a photographer, I know the importance of being prepared. For example, I need to consider the loc...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 30 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1222 Every September, St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Jenera, Ohio, holds its annual Schiffbruchsg...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 29 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1221 When I was growing up, there was a man in our community who really loved football. There was no org...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 28 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1220 Recently I read the true story of a young man who decided to follow every law in the Bible for one ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 27 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1219 Our culture teaches us to hide our faults and cover up our blemishes. The same thing can happen in ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 26 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1218 The people of Israel are complaining again, this time about manna. They are tired of eating nothing...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 25 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1217 Nehemiah is rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. The surrounding nations don’t like it so they make p...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 24 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1216 When Nehemiah hears about the problems in Jerusalem, he cries. In fact, he is so upset that the kin...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 23 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1215 I’m sure Nehemiah has some ideas when the king asks him what he wants. He realizes, however, that h...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 22 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1214 Vindication is not a word that we use regularly. I had to look it up. If I am vindicated, someone h...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 21 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1213 One of the pictures on my bulletin board is of a bright-eyed eight-year-old with a winsome smile. H...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 20 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1212 Imagine: A host has prepared food, spread out on two tables, both of which are heavily laden. The a...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 19 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1211 Most of us won’t have an experience like David did. The lament of Psalm 54 apparently arose from a ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 18 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1210 She faced a long, cold winter. The previous summer, her closest friends had moved far away because ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 17 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1209 A small group of friends gathered in a circle to lay hands on a woman and pray for her. The woman w...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 16 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1208 In life we go on many journeys. We may travel to experience a different part of our own country. Or...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 15 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1207 My father was a carpenter, and he learned his trade from his own father. For 25 years he earned his...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 14 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1206 A woman who was in the habit of criticizing preach­ers explained to John Wesley that her spiritual ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 13 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1205 It was a pleasant July evening in Kiev, Ukraine. I was sitting with a dozen other tourists around t...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 12 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1204 Soldiers in foxholes often become praying people. When he faces death, the psalmist, too, cries out...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 11 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1203 When my father lay dying, his last words were from a poem by Nikolaus von Zinzendorf: “Jesus, Thy b...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 10 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1202 When I was a teenager, endeavoring to live like a committed Christian, a Baal-like altar was eme...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 09 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1201 When I was called to a life-changing ministry that was far greater than I could carry out on my ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 08 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1200 When facing enormous challenges, how empower­ing it is to hear “The Lord is with you.” On January 1...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 07 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1199 Willie and Dottie attended my church. Sometimes they blurted out words during the sermon. Sometimes...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 06 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1198 I’ve learned how to escape notice when I play hide and seek with my nieces and nephews. There’s one...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 05 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1197 The greatest physical fear I’ve ever experienced was when I was about to jump out of an airplane. I...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 04 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1196 Lisa* worked with her church’s youth. She thought it would be a great idea to take them to Mexico t...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 03 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1195 Over the past four years, more than 10,000 children have saved money for mission projects, using gl...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 02 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1194 I still have my notes from a weeklong Bible study retreat in the mountains 25 years ago. The scener...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 01 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1193 I find it hard to pray for political leaders with whom I disagree or for whom I have little respect...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 31 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1192 I find catalogs both exciting and frustrating. I love to page through the descriptions of so many d...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 30 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1191 During graduate school I served as a part-time asso­ciate pastor in a congregation. I will never fo...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 29 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1190 The images most of us have of the Middle East are of conflict and destruction. Peace in the Holy La...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 28 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1189 Ten years ago my wife and I were about to retire and had already planned and made reservations for ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 27 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1188 In high school, I wondered what I would do after graduation. I was the first in my family to finish...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 26 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1187 A mission church sold chicken dinners Sundays after church in order to pay its bills. People liked ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 25 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1186 A pastor and a soap maker went for a walk. The soap maker said, “What good is religion? Look at the...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 24 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1185 This is a psalm of sweeping generalizations. For each verse, I can think of times when God seems to...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 23 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1184 “Nobody likes me, everybody hates me. I’m gonna go eat worms!” That childhood ditty expressed somet...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 22 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1183 In 1975 the book Dress for Success, by John T. Molloy, became a best seller. Since then, thousands ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 21 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1182 UFO sightings! Alien reports! Séances! Interstellar transmissions! The earth craves information fro...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 20 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1181 In Psalm 81 God releases the people to the bitter con­sequences of their own counsel. I do that wit...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 19 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1180 “Decisions! Decisions! Life is all about decisions,” an octogenarian declared. Daniel Smucker, a 91...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 18 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1179 Who would have thought my wayward nephew would bring this Scripture to life for me? We worried abou...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 17 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1178 My wife, Bonnie, who is a chaplain in a local hospi­tal, listened patiently as a woman in the menta...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 16 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1177 A photographer friend recently sent me copies of pic­tures taken in 1932 during the construction of...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 15 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1176 Some years ago when our denomination chose to have a churchwide convention in Philadelphia, we were...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 14 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1175 My friend Marie tells of a time she lived in Israel/Palestine. For months she suffered from headach...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 13 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1174 One of my most memorable boyhood moments as a farmhand in Kansas has to do with thirst. On a hot dr...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 12 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1173 Yesterday’s reading spoke of the benefits of streams that flow through dry land. While much of Pale...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 11 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1172 I grew up on the plains of Kansas, where the land is flat, often dry and dusty. From a distance one...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 10 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1171 Before sulfa drugs became available in the 1940s, there was no known cure for leprosy, or Hansen’s ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 09 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1170 Our universe is still full of mystery. Physicists, for example, puzzle over evidence that the laws ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 08 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1169 None of the squirmy fifth-grade boys had a clue what “humble” meant. In Sunday school, they were as...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 07 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1168 Men of all sizes and shapes gather around small bon­fires, cooking breakfast. Amid the comforting s...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 06 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1167 Lament and praise often seem to go together, in alternating rhythms. The tears wash us clean, empty...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 05 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1166 Have you ever spent time with a person for whom nothing was ever good enough? No matter what you di...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 04 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1165 A grandmother I know tells me she could laugh and cry at the same time. Her adult children lecture ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 03 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1164 Last summer our son Ethan tried his hand at T-ball. With a team of other preschoolers, he experienc...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 02 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1163 During my days at Canadian Mennonite Bible College in the early 1990s, I attended a Winnipeg Jets N...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 01 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1162 I am a photo junkie. Ask anyone who knows me well, and they will tell you of the hundreds of pictur...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 31 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1161 It is 5:00 p.m., and I am buzzing about in my kitchen, desperately trying to pull something togethe...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 30 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1160 Today is my mom and dad’s 42nd wedding anniver­sary. Two years ago on their fortieth anniversary, w...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 29 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1159 “Fish, cucumbers, melons of all kinds, leeks, garlic, and meat—we had such a smorgasbord back in Eg...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 28 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1158 I remember my first taste of manna at age five. My Sunday school teacher told us how God heard the ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 27 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1157 How many popular songs can you think of that have the title “The Power of Love”? I can think of qui...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 26 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1156 It’s a beautiful Saturday in the summertime: the sun is shining, the birds are singing, the breeze ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 25 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1155 I’m a skeptic: I always doubt that what I have to offer will be sufficient for the situation. This ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 24 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1154 I’ve heard and read the parable of the Good Samaritan so many times I think I’m almost immune to it...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 23 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1153 I remember one of the hopeless times in my life. Within a span of about two months, my grandfather ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 22 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1152 Almost every Sunday when I was a teenager, I gath­ered with friends to play football, usually in so...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 21 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1151 Is Jesus relevant for all the overwhelming social and political issues that plague our planet? Does...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 20 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1150 I am thankful to the writer of the Gospel of Mark for including this story because it illustrates t...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 19 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1149 On a recent trip abroad we saw amazing things that were different from what we experience in our ow...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 18 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1148 For the first time last year, I joined a book club. How I relish the challenge of reading a book a ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1147 The Mennonite World Conference meeting in Asun­ción, Paraguay, this week has fittingly chosen this ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 16 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1146 We have a gray rectangular concrete planter along our front walk. It is in an ideal location, being...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 15 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1145 In Jesus’ debate with the chief priests and elders in the temple, he says that the people they most...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 14 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1144 Last year I felt quite good about my physical health. I had had my annual physical exam and had rec...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 13 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1143 In the fall of 2008 a friend reflected on his recent meeting with Mennonites in India. He found him...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 12 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1142 After attending the Mennonite World Conference in Zimbabwe in 2003, my son and I spent a day at the...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 11 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1141 The book of Psalms has been the prayer book of faithful Jews and Christians through history. Surpri...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 10 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1140 Last year my wife and I celebrated Passover at the home of Jewish Christian friends. We chanted, we...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 09 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1139 In 2003 the Mennonite World Conference General Council processed a statement of seven “Shared Convi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 08 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1138 In 2007 a tornado leveled Greensburg, Kansas, leav­ing only the grain cooperative and the tavern un...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 07 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1137 When I was at Tabor College with my colleague Doug Miller, I learned that he did his doctoral resea...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 06 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1136 Throughout the Gospel of Mark, we experience the disciples’ effort to understand Jesus. “Who is thi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 05 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1135 I live in the United States, where Independence Day is celebrated today and where the “pursuit of h...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 04 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1134 This psalm challenges me to reflect on my depend­ence on God. In recent years, creation has become ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1133 Psalm 132 declares that David’s throne and Zion will stand forever. Several generations later, howe...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 01 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1132 Turning away from sin and turning toward God are inseparable. Yet sometimes we believers emphasize ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 30 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1131 The sun is rising as I write. Its soft light glows out­side my window, bathing the world in beauty....http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 29 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1130 Ministry depletes energy. Every time I preach, the adrenaline “collapse” afterward creates fatigue....http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 28 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1129 A pastor in my conference was granted a sabbatical in which he visited a number of congregations in...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 27 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1128 When I was 15, my oldest sister died. My mother was devastated. She had already sustained a severe ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 26 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1127 My daughter-in-law lived less than five miles from the epicenter of the big 1989 California quake. ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 25 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1126 I’ve taken my share of road trips through the night. Time drags. The coffee gets cold. The car gets...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 24 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1125 My work in leading the Canadian Mennonite Brethren Conference is complex. It involves travel across...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 23 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1124 When I was a boy, my friend and I often rode our bikes around my small town. One day we were accost...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 22 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1123 Remember those T-shirts that had “No Fear” inscribed on them? Though the company that made them was...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 21 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1122 Many of us tend to procrastinate. We usually do so with responsibilities we don’t enjoy. In my job ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 20 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1121 I’ve always loved books and learning new things, though I’m more interested in ideas than in practi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 19 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1120 Some of us are prone to doubt, while others find it easier to accept the things we encounter at fac...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 18 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1119 I love thunderstorms as long as I’m in a safe, dry place and there’s no threat of the storm doing d...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 17 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1118 Some years ago, friends of mine moved from Chicago to my small town in Kansas. They remarked at the...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 16 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1117 When I think back to the times I’ve felt closest to God, they have often been occasions when I’ve c...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 15 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1116 “My grandfather told his friend to climb out of the stalled elevator car first. As grandpa tried to...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 14 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1115 Before becoming a nursing home chaplain, my father-in-law was pastor of a large local congregation....http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 13 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1114 On a tour of Rideau Hall, home of Canada’s Governor General, I saw trees planted by visiting dignit...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 12 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1113 “Mrs. Driedger, I’d sooner die than talk in front of the whole class.” That’s what some of my high ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 11 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1112 The writer of Proverbs suggests that one important source of wisdom is our parents. My mother and f...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 10 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1111 I wonder if I really knew what fear was before I became a mother. From the moment our children ente...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 09 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1110 My high school journalism students chose the name The Cutting Edge for the monthly newspaper we pro...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 08 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1109 Once, when I was a child, I hid under the steps in our basement. My parents were in the barn finish...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 07 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1108 I confess I sometimes have doubts about what is really communicated when people hold up signs readi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 06 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1107 During a retreat many years ago, participants were asked to stop at several stations in the church ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 05 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1106 In spite of being the foremost prophet of Israel before Christ, Moses faces a profound disappointme...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 04 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1105 Late one night, while returning from a concert, a woman whom I had just met that evening turned to ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 03 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1104 Ten . . . Nine . . . Eight . . . The seconds ticked off the clock at the end of the fourth quarter....http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 02 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1103 My wife and I have occasionally discussed who we would choose to be the guardians of our two childr...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 01 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1102 Recently, I watched a teenager fall in love with physics. Her teacher struck the exact note to enga...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 31 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1101 The place was finally starting to get used to him. He skateboarded to meetings and had a pirate the...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 30 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1100 When I pull off my shoes and step into the river, my measly ankles don’t keep the water from gettin...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 29 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1099 We’ve been waiting for the day. Waiting for the day when the remnant returns, for even though it’s ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 28 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1098 This is a piece on feet: a piece about the feet that bring the news of peace, the news of deliveran...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 27 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1097 “Nice T-shirt,” I greet Marguerite. SPEAK PEACE is emblazoned in block script across her body. “Oh ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 26 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1096 In the United States, this is Memorial Day, set aside to remember who’s been lost and what’s been g...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 25 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1095 At one church I pastored, we had a nursery school. Here, we did not approve of children biting othe...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 24 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1094 I once served as a juror in a civil trial. The judge told us that we’d be there about three and a h...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 23 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1093 If the Lord is really watching over the way of the righteous, why do the wicked seem to take so lon...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 22 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1092 In 1860 Milton Bradley invented the board game “The Checkered Game of Life.” Beginning with infancy...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 21 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1091 Along with the bread and cup, Church of the Brethren congregations observe the Lord’s Supper by sha...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 20 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1090 My mother grew up without her mother. Grandmother spent years in quarantine and died before my moth...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 19 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1089 I live in an area where radio reception is poor, so my wife, Jennie, and I decided to sign up for s...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 18 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1088 The First Letter of John is about light and truth and love, but mostly about love. “God is love,” h...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 17 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1087 “We’ve never done it this way before!” is an expres­sion often heard when someone proposes a change...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 16 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1086 One Bible scholar has called this a joy to the world psalm. The psalmist counts the marvelous thi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 15 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1085 I love to read whodunit mystery stories. In the early chapters I look for clues in characters and...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 14 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1084 The girl sits on her time-out chair, pouting. Earlier she disobeyed her mother and then lied abou...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 13 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1083 The pastor looks over the congregation and immedi ately recognizes various burdens people have brou...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 12 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1082 I stand before a large unusual-looking picture. The color is vivid and captures my attention. There...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 11 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1081 Stay. Abide. Remain. Homely but beautiful virtue, this especially at a time when the norm is to bai...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 10 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1080 Our usual stock of mission images gives shape and color, longitude and latitude, to the phrase end...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 09 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1079 It seems to be the creative work of the Holy Spirit to draw us beyond our usual haunts, our settled...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 08 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1078 An acquaintance told me that she once stepped into an elevator and found herself, to her complete a...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 07 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1077 It is sometimes said of the rich and powerful people whom we may idolize that they, too, put their...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 06 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1076 This psalm is nothing if not the confession of a heart that aches with yearning. The poet has glimp...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 05 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1075 As dawn breaks upon the opening lines of this Gospel, it is hard to miss the insistent silhouette o...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 04 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1074 Mary struggled with conflicting emotions as she packed her bags for the long flight home. This had ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 03 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1073 Psalm 23 is about God s abundance, explained our tour guide as our eyes scanned the parched Judea...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 02 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1072 Indonesian Muslims saw the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 as a religious attack on Islam. Har...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 01 May 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1071 On this passage in the Believers Church Bible Commentary, Tom Yoder Neufeld invites us to imagine ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 30 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1070 At age 80, a close relative decided to move. Smaller living quarters meant getting rid of a lot of ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 29 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1069 This July, more than 7,000 people representing 1.5 million members of 100 national Mennonite or Bre...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 28 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1068 On the rare occasions when my parents took a few days off to visit distant relatives, they left my ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 27 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1067 Not long before we moved from Minneapolis, a beloved fellow church member, Michael Schrock, was str...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 26 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1066 A recent Macleans article reported that insomnia is becoming more widespread in North America. As a...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 25 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1065 I remember the first time I wore eyeglasses to school in fourth grade. I was elated. I could see th...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 24 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1064 Although most recipients of healing in New Testament stories are not given names, Aeneas and Tabith...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 23 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1063 Ten years ago, after a winter of declining health with Parkinson s disease, my dad contracted pneum...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 22 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1062 In her memoir Here If You Need Me, Chaplain Kate Braestrup recounts her worst experience with death...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 21 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1061 A few years ago I was sicker than I had ever been in my life. The dreaded Norro virus was making it...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 20 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1060 Among the many perks of parenthood are the regu lar reminders that I don t really know what I m doi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 19 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1059 Early in our marriage my wife and I attended one of the big reunions my extended family used to hol...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 18 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1058 After several years of swinging a club infrequently, I decided last summer to play more golf. It di...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 17 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1057 Awhile ago I was involved in a discussion about the divisions and difficulties many churches deal w...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 16 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1056 I know believers who always seem quick to pray and serve and talk to their friends and neighbors ab...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 15 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1055 Recently my wife wanted to surprise a friend of ours with an unusual gift. When I shared my doubts ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 14 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1054 One evening I took my walk as some damp-looking clouds loomed on the horizon. Not that I was worrie...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 13 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1053 I m not a big fireworks fan. I can t remember the last time I bought any. But I m wondering if I sh...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 12 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1052 I enjoy seeing people take something old, used, or rejected and create something new, usable, and d...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 11 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1051 In our Scripture, Peter tells the Gentile centurion Cornelius the story of Jesus. As a witness to J...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 10 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1050 As we saw in yesterday s meditation, our lives will be changed if we invite Christ to change our wa...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 09 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1049 I honestly don t know how I functioned before the invention of sticky notes. Sticky notes cover the...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 08 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1048 This Scripture is for me. I see too much with the eyes of my head. I see high gas prices, housework...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 07 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1047 I can see it now: A group of Jesus women friends show up at the tomb and find the stone rolled awa...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 06 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1046 Here in northeast Ohio, there is hardly a moment when a professional sports team is not playing at ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 05 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1045 Growing up in a household where finances were tight, we learned to improvise. My mom built shelves ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 04 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1044 Last summer I finally got my house painted. My brother came from Pennsylvania, and we put our full ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 03 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1043 A few years ago, through diligent dedication and careful measuring, I managed to lose 50 pounds. (I...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 02 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1042 Week after week we attend Sunday morning wor ship. Day after day we read our devotions in the morni...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 01 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1041 After the coffee and cookie time on Sunday morning, the cups somehow manage to get taken away and c...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 31 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1040 Walk into any department store, and one of the first counters you approach is the cosmetics. Go int...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 30 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1039 Every Wednesday morning a group of faithful pray ers gathers at our church. Attendance varies from ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 29 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1038 David had many talents as warrior, shepherd, king, singer, administrator, and worshipper. But he wa...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 28 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1037 A recent study in genetics has set itself the task of finding out what is written in our DNA. By ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 27 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1036 The Samaritan woman has no way to anticipate how her shocking experience will shatter her daily rou...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 26 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1035 Near the place where I grew up was a city park with a clear, sparkling stream. Along the banks were...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 25 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1034 Twenty years ago today, in 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez hit a reef in Prince William Sound o...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 24 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1033 Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare s play Macbeth has bloody hands and a heart to match. She goads her hus...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 23 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1032 I have experienced many altar calls. They have ranged from throwing a stick in a camp bonfire, to k...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 22 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1031 People who write and teach about healing prayer remind us that healing is rarely a short sprint, in...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 21 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1030 Receiving a foster child into our home seemed like the perfect solution for our childlessness. But ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 20 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1029 I participated in a women s group that discussed Beth Moore s book Get out of that Pit. Moore invit...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 19 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1028 Every morning I scoop up my foster daughter, still warm with dreams, and stumble sleepily with her ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 18 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1027 During a week at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp, my cabin of girls did a night hike to a campground...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 17 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1026 During my college s Study and Service Trimester in Haiti, I went sailing. This was forbidden as un...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 16 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1025 I love my church! It is a place I look forward to going to every Sunday. The music and messages in...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 15 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1024 British Columbia s Fraser Valley, where I live, is known for its frequent precipitation. It makes ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 14 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1023 I do solemnly swear, . . . so help me God. Newly elected American presidents utter these words a...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 13 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1022 Two impatient young boys on bikes were waiting for the light at an intersection to turn green. T...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 12 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1021 Some years ago I suffered a herniated disk in my back. The pain was excruciating. Even a short wai...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 11 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1020 One night in 1764, without permission, a student sneaked a book out of the valuable John Harvard c...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 10 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1019 The house began to tremble. The overhead chande lier swayed precariously from side to side. Earthq...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 09 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1018 Is my proverbial glass half empty or half full? Do I despise doing the dishes, or am I glad to hav...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 08 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1017 Early this morning I went to a favorite hiking spot close to where I live. The sun was shining, th...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 07 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1016 When my boys were young, I could often be found in the backyard, pitching a ball to them. I knew i...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 06 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1015 There were two grumpy men in a nursing home who had argued for years. One became ill and thought h...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 05 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1014 Some time ago, I accompanied my wife to a confer ence she was attending. While she spent the day a...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 04 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1013 Jesus, along with others in Scripture, compares us with sheep. How fitting! Sheep are not smart. O...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 03 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1012 On a scenic drive through the countryside, I m con sistently drawn to a certain piece of property....http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 02 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1011 On the day I wrote this devotional, I went to the law courts of my city to respond to a summons. I...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 01 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1010 In 2007, I attended a series of lectures in Winnipeg by Goshen (Indiana) College professor John Ro...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 28 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1009 Last spring the Winnipeg Art Gallery hosted an exhi bition of The Saint John s Bible, a massive ne...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 27 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1008 My father has Alzheimer s disease. Gradually but steadily, the memories of his childhood, his fami...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 26 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1007 Canadian Mennonites of an earlier generation were greatly influenced by Ben Horch (1907-1992), a g...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 25 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1006 The piece of history Moses recaps in today s reading provides a powerful lesson about resisting Go...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 24 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1005 I love going to the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) thrift shop in our neighborhood. The merc...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 23 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1004 I love to throw a party and draw together friends. Good conversation often results when friends f...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 22 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1003 Thomas wanted to die at home. Doctors didn t know how long he would live, but his family knew they...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 21 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1002 Have you ever picked up a Where s Waldo book? The pages are overflowing with small images, and t...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 20 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1001 Don t you wish God s direction could be clear? Wouldn t it be nice if there were no guessing, no d...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 19 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=1000 Droughts are caused by changes in climate pat terns. Lean times can also come about when a tyrant ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 18 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=999 My Canadian father was living in the United States and waiting for the government paperwork that w...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 17 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=998 It was really a fact-finding mission to India. A young couple, Dwayne and Vanessa, wanted to serve...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 16 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=997 Perhaps you ve heard the story of the star-thrower. A young girl rushes along the beach, picking u...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 15 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=996 Eleven years ago on Valentine s Day, we took cards, red roses, and balloons to my sister who was l...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 14 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=995 I drove by a sign that read, Wisdom is having a lot to say and not saying it. My experience reso...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 13 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=994 Have you noticed anyone missing from the book of Esther? It seems that a crucial character is on v...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 12 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=993 It was a matter of timing, and I just couldn t get it quite right. I tried playing video baseball...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 11 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=992 The book of Esther is high drama, set on the stage of real history. Haman, a central character, ap...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 10 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=991 Humility has been defined as having a right assess ment of oneself. In the children s story Gol...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 09 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=990 At a conference a speaker gave us each a tiny box of raisins. She asked us to remove one raisin an...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 08 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=989 In his later years my dad had dementia. He couldn t say much and did n t hear well either. He wa...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 07 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=988 I was having a computer problem while updating the ThirdWay.com web site (information on Mennonite...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 06 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=987 Joanna was a 12-year-old who benefited greatly from her sister s mistake. Her sister got pregnant ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 05 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=986 I was about six when I broke the bathroom scales in the home of my parents friends as we visited o...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 04 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=985 We have all been utterly disappointed by a church leader we ve respected whether a youth group lead...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 03 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=984 The story of David and Bathsheba and subsequent cover-up seems like it could come right out of the...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 02 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=983 The fear of the Lord is not commonly talked about in our time. We tend to talk more about the love...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 01 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=982 Today s Scripture story suggests that there were con cerns in Israel about the successor to Moses,...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 31 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=981 Some of the most prophetic teachings of Jesus are in the Sermon on the Mount. The call to love our...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 30 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=980 God s people have an uneasy relationship with prophets and others who proclaim God s word. We cann...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 29 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=979 When Elisha meets the Shunammite woman (see yes terday s reading) he knows something is amiss. His...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 28 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=978 A wealthy Shunammite woman invites Elisha to have a meal with her family and then prepares a room f...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 27 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=977 Recently, Tabor College in Kansas inaugurated a new president. At one point, a presidential medalli...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 26 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=976 An elderly woman in Odessa, Ukraine, taught histo ry in a military academy. She was a lifelong athe...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 25 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=975 Nothing in this world is permanent. If you don t believe it, compare the face you saw in the mirror...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 24 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=974 A second chance is very sweet. Once I was about to fail a course in linguistics when the professor ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 23 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=973 The suspense of this expertly told story depends on the concealed identity of the angel of the Lord...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 22 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=972 Remember the nazirites? (See January 19.) By the time this story takes place, those holiness supers...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 21 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=971 Of all the sad phrases in the English language, It s your own fault, is one of the saddest espec...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 20 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=970 Almost as soon as it was possible to evangelize open ly in the former Soviet Union, Vera Zhitnik l...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 19 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=969 I enjoy yard sales. Although I have become much more careful not to buy what I do not need, I like...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 18 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=968 It doesn t take much to convince Nathanael that he has met the Christ. Although his first respons...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 17 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=967 This story is another example of a torch being passed to the next leader. Bypassing Eli, the aged p...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 16 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=966 When I graduated from a Mennonite high school, our class chose as a motto He goeth before. A cla...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 15 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=965 Recently a woman who had served 25 years as pres ident of the sewing circle of our church passed t...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 14 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=964 I know from experience that retirement or resigna tion from a position brings mixed feelings. Alo...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 13 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=963 At a moment when the leadership of Moses and Aaron is under attack, Joshua and Caleb come to the r...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 12 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=962 The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC has a large collection of art reflecting biblical t...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 11 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=961 An outdoor sculpture exhibit at the Museum of the American Indian is titled Always Becoming. Creat...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 10 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=960 An exhibit in Washington, DC s National Museum of the American Indian is titled The Storm. With vi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 09 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=959 Washington, DC s International Spy Museum shines a light on the craft of espionage. Here one can v...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 08 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=958 After walking through the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, I felt overwhelmed at the stori...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 07 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=957 Pounding hearts, sweaty palms, dry mouths. Behind Jericho s walls, we find two spies, hidden under...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 06 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=956 As I write this, some 4.4 million citizens of Iraq have fled their homes because of the war. Two m...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 05 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=955 In John s Gospel, the miracles Jesus performs are signs of his special relationship to God, whom ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 04 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=954 In today s text, God tells Jeremiah to remind the peo ple of Judah that they have broken their agr...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 03 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=953 When Paul writes to the Ephesians, he is obviously excited about the main theme of his message, Ch...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 02 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=952 If you have ever experienced acute loneliness, you know that it is a situation you never wish to e...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 01 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=951 During times of trouble, I turn to God for guidance quite naturally because I need help. However, ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 31 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=950 King David knows from experience that a good shepherd who loves his sheep has only their best inte...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 30 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=949 God s anointed king, David, experienced severe per secution from Saul, who knew that David would e...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 29 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=948 Today s key Scripture carries words of a dying saint from the world into which Jesus was born. Sim...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 28 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=947 At times, counselors encourage people to renew their image of God as a powerful yet gentle Persona...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 27 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=946 One Boxing Day my wife and I braved crowded stores with a noble purpose: to purchase nothing. We w...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 26 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=945 To me, candles at Christmas represent past and future blessings. Light up the house! I remember...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 25 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=944 Christmas Eve! We prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, to honour his coming. Should we plan to...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 24 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=943 As a teen, I auditioned for the church choir and was placed in the back row. I had a poor voice an...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 23 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=942 Christmas is a festival of light. Stroll streets or crawl malls, and behold the glitter and glow! ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 22 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=941 I m intrigued by the word mystery. There are murder mysteries whodunits on every television channe...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 21 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=940 Uncle Carroll passed away not long ago. He was always full of smiles and raised six wonderful chil...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 20 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=939 Before my father died, he reminded me many times that, because he had two daughters, the lineage o...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 19 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=938 We ve all had moments when we ve felt like the good guy. Other times, however, we ve made mistak...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 18 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=937 As I write this, our state is mailing letters to 206,000 people and telling them that their Social...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 17 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=936 What is the farthest distance we humans can imagine traveling? To the nation s capital? South Amer...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 16 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=935 One of the memorable moments from the Cosby Show years ago involves Bill confronting his son, Theo...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 15 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=934 In the cemetery where my father is buried, his marker has his name on the top line, followed by th...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 14 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=933 Our family has been besieged by cancer. Our daughter-in-law, mother of three preschool children, i...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 13 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=932 This text is so beautiful it should be read out loud two or three times. It is the heart of the Ad...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 12 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=931 My wife and I are opposites when it comes to traveling by car. She likes to take the shortest, fas...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 11 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=930 There s a big difference between promises made and promises kept. During election campaigns, polit...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 10 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=929 We have three grandchildren. As each was born, I marveled at the opportunity spread out before th...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 09 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=928 A young couple sat in my office, awash in tears. Five years before, I d performed their wedding. E...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 08 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=927 James Lark, the first African-American Mennonite bishop, was born in 1888 in Savannah, Georgia. As...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 07 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=926 There are many high points during a wedding cere mony, but one of the highest for me is when the c...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 06 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=925 Recently I taught a college class on personal violence and avenues toward healing for those who ex...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 05 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=924 Our culture does not honor the practice of waiting. We live in a time and place where immediacy is...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 04 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=923 From the time I was small, I have loved the feeling of being in church. It is not only the worship...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 03 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=922 As a nineteen-year-old, I found myself halfway around the world, working in refugee camps in Thaila...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 02 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=921 Civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer died in 1977, at the age of 59. Most of her life, she was a...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 01 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=920 One year at our church, the Advent theme was Waiting at the Window. Window frames were arranged ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 30 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=919 While attending my high school reunion, I listened to a classmate describe the devastation of losi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 29 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=918 I am taking my first pottery class. On the first night, we were each given a bag of clay. Around u...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 28 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=917 I recently applied for a job. I prepared a r sum listing my educational and work-related accompli...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 27 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=916 During a retreat at St. John s Abbey in Minnesota, I prayed the Psalms three times a day with the ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 26 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=915 As a parent, I have learned that patience does not come naturally to children. Whether it is a muc...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 25 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=914 I can recall only a handful of occasions when I was persecuted for my faith. A passerby hurled ang...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 24 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=913 A friend of mine said yes to an invitation to become a pen pal to a death-row inmate. Their relati...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 23 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=912 Our group of youth hiked 45 minutes to the top of a 500-foot ridge above our camp. The youth were ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 22 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=911 Our class went on a literal field trip to a sheep farm. The farmer took us to the barn and explain...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 21 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=910 One night during college, while studying in my dorm room, I felt unsettled and restless. I grabbed...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 20 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=909 My heart just wasn t in the conversation I was hav ing. My mind was wandering over the long to-do...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 19 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=908 So what do you do? It was the question I dreaded to hear when meeting new people. I was a youth ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 18 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=907 But why are they coming over for supper? my four-year-old son asked. I explained that the family...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 17 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=906 In this story that Jesus tells, all the slaves seem to be working independently. They each are giv...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 16 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=905 What is the day of the Lord ? Here Paul suggests that the day of the Lord is the future day when ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 15 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=904 When I was in Bible college, we loved to listen to old bluegrass gospel songs, like those sung by t...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 14 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=903 Have you ever stopped to think about what is not in this letter? Paul does not complain about the ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 13 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=902 Two weeks ago a family member was diagnosed with cancer. We have spent hours thinking and talking ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 12 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=901 In Canada, today is Remembrance Day, when we recall the horrors of war and remember the soldiers a...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 11 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=900 Form letters save time! I like to keep in touch with far-flung friends at Christmas, and in Novem...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 10 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=899 As I opened the morning paper today, I saw a pic ture that forced me to quickly turn the page. I c...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 09 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=898 The United States presidential candidates and their supporters are filling radio waves and televis...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 08 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=897 Today s passage became mainstream among American churches after Martin Luther King s assassination...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 07 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=896 Like Luke in the book of Acts, the apostle Paul writes about the Jerusalem council. As we have see...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 06 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=895 In our family we often begin our conversations with a story. Even my four-year-old granddaughter w...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 05 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=894 The Council at Jerusalem begins with the phrase There had been much debate. The leaders in atten...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 04 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=893 Today s reading reminds us how important it is for congregations to be in relationship through reg...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 03 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=892 Jesus turned the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees upside down. They were the teachers who par...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 02 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=891 As an apostle of Christ, Paul had a right to expect to be supported by the believers. But, not wan...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 01 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=890 Discouragement comes to all of us. Like the psalmist we feel besieged by trouble, and God seems to...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 31 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=889 Once I stayed for two weeks at a government school in Swaziland, southern Africa. One day as I vis...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 30 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=888 One of our world s greatest needs is for encour agers people who can look beyond a person s faults...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 29 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=887 Paul once thought that his assignment from God was to rid Judaism of heretics. I persecuted the f...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 28 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=885 Everything has a price is as true in today s story as in our own world of materialism and wealth...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 27 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=884 Today many Mennonite churches celebrate Heritage Sunday, looking to the past to remember who they ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 26 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=883 Consider these everyday dilemmas: You know the boss wants you to increase sales by 25 percent, but...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 25 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=882 Psalm 1, known as a wisdom psalm, makes strong points about the blessedness of being on God s side...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 24 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=881 Robert was a trucker assigned to pick up canned meat to be shipped from our Mennonite Central Comm...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 23 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=880 In recent years some famous personalities have taken to hiring live-in physical trainers. For thos...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 22 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=879 Some television ads tell us to use certain products as a sure way to reach out and touch someone....http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 21 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=878 Some biblical characters just get bad press! Judas is one character whom we stigmatize for his bet...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 20 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=877 What is the psalmist suggesting when he starts this hymn with a call to sing a new song? Many of u...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 19 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=876 I believe money to be the most difficult issue to dis cuss in the faith community. We can debate ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 18 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=875 Isaiah tells us that the Lord will grasp the hand of a Persian king, a king who does not know God ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 17 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=874 Paul is not in a big hurry to get to Jerusalem after his conversion experience. This is understand...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 16 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=873 Paul has a credibility problem. He has spent much of his life violently persecuting the church of...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 15 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=872 Ananias has a dilemma. He is a devout man of God whose vision has clearly spoken to him. His predi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 14 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=867 Luke does not mince words in capturing the charac ter of Saul on his way to Damascus. He portrays ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 13 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=866 Every year as part of our church s preparation for the Lenten season, we plan a worship service us...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 12 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=865 This is the psalm that is often read at child dedica tions, when new lambs of God s care are wel...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 11 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=864 Since our daughter, Maria, was very young, she s had a tender heart for whomever or whatever she t...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 10 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=863 Every Sunday morning before the worship service begins, our church has a prayer gathering for ever...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 09 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=862 Today is the one-year anniversary of the funeral I helped lead for one of my dear friends in our ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 08 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=861 I ll have to admit it. When I see two unfamiliar men in black pants and white shirts, with Bibles ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 07 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=860 Several years ago, a family who lived in our commu nity began coming to our church. Lisa was a Chr...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 06 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=859 I praise you God, for sending Jesus even though he was despised and rejected by many. I welcome you...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 05 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=858 If a garden has been destroyed and is no longer pro ductive as described in yesterday s text (Isai...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 04 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=857 Some people plant gardens for the produce they can eat and enjoy. I plant my garden to get exercis...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 03 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=856 In my role as a grief support chaplain, I talk with people who tell me that the greeting they lik...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 02 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=855 We all know people who look at life from different perspectives. One may say, Just let me be; it ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 01 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=854 I m not an antique collector, but antique shows on television always fascinate me. Someone brings ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 30 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=849 I see it, but I can hardly believe it is a comment we make when reality doesn t match our expect...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 29 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=848 Lord, please help me to be honest with myself and you. Please show me where my deeds have not match...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 28 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=847 As a stay-at-home mother of three young children, I sometimes find my days long and draining. Towa...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 27 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=846 Before I had kids, I worked outside of the home. My favorite thing about the workplace was that I ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 26 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=845 My firstborn feels that as the oldest, she is entitled to be the first in everything. She should g...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 25 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=844 This past Sunday, a missionary spoke to our congre gation about his work in the Philippines. His s...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 24 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=843 At our church, parents take turns helping out in the nursery and teaching children s church. While...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 23 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=842 Sometimes I look at my girls and I think, I would not like to be a child again. They are constan...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 22 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=841 Jesus story could well have taken place in California s San Joaquin Valley, where I live. The gra...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 21 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=840 This hymn of praise is designed to cause us to pon der the wonderful, creative works of God. We ar...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 20 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=839 God commissions Jonah to deliver a message of judg ment, and the Ninevites respond by confessing t...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 19 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=838 Writer Philip Yancey casts new light on the all-too familiar Beatitudes by recasting them this way...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 18 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=837 As young adult, I served three years as a conscien tious objector, honing my verbal skills in defe...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 17 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=836 My physicians have advised me not to enter stores, restaurants, and other gathering places lest I ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 16 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=833 At Christmas, our family usually shares lists of things we might want as gifts. It makes shopping ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 15 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=832 On October 2, 2006, a gunman killed five girls, aged 7-13, injured several others, and then killed...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 14 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=831 This morning while I was getting ready for work at the secondhand store, my employer called to let...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 13 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=830 The need to be right must be part of our human DNA and as Christians we are not exempt. In today s...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 12 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=829 Today, on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I am also remembering an evening during another cr...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 11 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=828 A few years ago, two couples from Wooster, Ohio, were vacationing in Sarasota, Florida. As they dr...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 10 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=827 Years ago I read Judith Guest s novel Ordinary People, which also became an Academy Award-winning ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 09 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=826 Although it s been 34 years since then, our son s adoption day remains etched in my mind. How well...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 08 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=825 Sydney Lea tells the story of a Native American man, testifying in a trial, who was asked to swear...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 07 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=824 Robert Frost ends his poem The Road Not Taken with these well-known lines: I took the one less ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 06 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=823 Nothing so needs reforming, said Mark Twain, as other people s habits. When co-workers catch o...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 05 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=822 In my congregation we have a tradition that those who travel bring back a stone from a place they h...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 04 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=821 My father had a funny way of talking about success ful people in our community. He would recite th...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 03 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=820 The pilot announced that we were approaching Phoenix, but all I could see out the window was mile ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 02 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=819 My three-year-old granddaughter recently brought me one of her books and climbed into my lap to ha...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 01 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=818 Elfin was a good word to describe Hazel. She was barely over five feet tall, with a mop of silve...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 31 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=817 When I was in my first year of high school, our girls choir traveled to Washington, D.C., for a c...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 30 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=816 Robert Fulghum has famously written: All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten. I coul...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 29 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=815 I used to take gardening for granted. Living in the Appalachian Mountains with its abundant rainfa...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 28 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=814 Lois is one of my closest friends. Although she lives in Canada and I live in Kansas, we talk almo...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 27 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=813 My friend Mary s death was not the first I had expe rienced of someone close to me, but it was the...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 26 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=811 Although my parents grew up on farms, my siblings and I did not. Only when I moved to the Great Pl...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 25 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=810 In my spiritual journey, I have felt two strong impulses. One could be called the identifying pri...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 24 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=809 I remember learning to ride a bike. Hanging on to an old hitching rail, I put my feet on the pedal...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 23 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=808 I was exhausted from driving in the heavy rain. Suddenly a beautiful rainbow spread across the sky...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 22 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=807 I played golf for 15 years with a simple set of clubs: two drivers, three irons, and a putter. A y...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 21 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=806 A fairy tale tells about a proud frog and two kind ducks living in a pond. One day the pond dried ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 20 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=805 The world asks: How can we overcome terrorism and crime? Its answer is to put police into the sc...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 19 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=645 When my son started watching TV, I watched with him. When a commercial came on, I asked him severa...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 18 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=644 In today s reading, Jesus initial reaction to the Canaanite woman s clamor for attention requires...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 17 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=643 There is something wonderful about knowing that our God is a God of all peoples and nations. It is...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 16 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=642 The backyard party had begun. Adults chatted in small groups while young children made a playful ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 15 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=641 My father and I recently traveled by dugout canoe into the Ecuadorian jungle. The indigenous Chach...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 14 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=640 In the 1970s, development organizations and the Bangladeshi government dug over ten million deep w...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 13 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=639 Our words not only shape others; they also shape us. Recently, I was in a bad mood and my temper f...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 12 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=638 When I was in the throes of junior high insecurity and concerned about cliques, pimples, and a bod...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 11 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=637 If you are reading this before going to church, be warned: lock your car! As Garrison Keillor once...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 10 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=636 Created unending food for a widow. Raised a dead boy back to life. Called down fire from heaven to...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 09 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=635 Soon after my son was born, I found myself strug­gling with question after question. Why won’t he ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 08 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=634 Matthew records the parable of the sheep and the goats as the last teaching Jesus gives before the...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 07 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=633 This question of James has burned at the heart of Christianity for centuries. Can a person have fa...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 06 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=632 According to the United States Census Bureau, 12 percent of Americans live in poverty. Sadder yet ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 05 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=493 If you could describe those who attend your church in just a few words, what words would you use? ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 04 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=492 When you hear the word abundance, what’s the first image that flashes through your mind? I think o...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 03 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=491 Sometimes I find it hard to decide whether I need “down time” or just want to avoid doing somethin...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 02 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=490 If you’ve ever sat with “Jim” at one of our church potlucks, you know about the joy of food. Jim p...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 01 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=489 For the second time in this first chapter, James tells us how believers are blessed when they “end...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 31 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=488 A few years ago, I tried unsuccessfully to grow a watermelon vine. Thinking it was growing too slo...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 30 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=487 I used to envy people who could know, in advance, that God would say yes to their prayer, whether ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 29 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=486 Last summer our family took a five-day backpacking trip into the wilderness northeast of Winnipeg....http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 28 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=485 We had passed through nine time zones on our jour­ney, stretching our 24-hour day into 33 tiring h...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 27 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=484 “What are all those little pieces of fabric on your sewing table?” my granddaughters, always full o...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 26 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=483 After humbly beseeching God for wisdom, Solomon receives what he asks. I have often wished for a l...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 25 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=482 Peter, James, and John have just seen a vision that changes forever their picture of the rabbi tea...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 24 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=481 As I write, candidates for the 2008 presidential elec­tion are clamoring for air time and financia...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 23 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=480 With high anticipation, our tour group turned the corner and walked into the next gallery of paint...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 22 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=479 As I write this, a delegation of the Mennonite World Conference has just attended the Brethren in...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 21 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=475 It is five months till Christmas. Is anyone in your household looking forward to Christmas? May...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 20 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=474 Sometimes we scorn people in ancient cultures for worshipping idols made of wood and stone. As mod...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 18 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=473 Jesus has just shared a most intimate meal and per­formed a most loving act for his disciples, and...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 17 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=472 Were these words of Jesus meant to be taken literal­ly? Many Christians throughout the ages have a...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 16 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=471 This story begins with Jesus at the Last Supper with both Judas, the one who would betray him, and...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 15 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=470 In the Gospel story before us for the next four days, Jesus seems to know that his mission on ear...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 14 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=269 What a rich description of the fruitfulness of God’s word! Isaiah begins by skillfully painting an...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 13 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=268 Though the memory is now over thirty years old, it holds a vivid place in my brain. Water is at th...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 12 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=267 I left the parishioners’ home, smiling at the blessing I’d received. I had come for a pastoral vis...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 11 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=266 Imagine coming to a fork in the road of life, and you have a choice to make. One of them is the ea...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 10 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=265 Tossing and turning, I seek the slumber that would wrap me like a blanket, bringing restorative, s...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 09 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=264 Travelers to modern-day Israel can poke around first-century ruins, seeking evidence for the life ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 08 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=263 I live in a comfortable home on a tree-lined street in a Midwestern city, just a half block away ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 07 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=262 “My yoke is easy,” commentators tell us, was likely the slogan associated with Jesus’ carpentry sh...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 06 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=261 A is for apple. B is for boy. C is for cat. . . . Z is for zebra. Do you remember teaching a child...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 05 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=260 The United States is in the throes of presidential politics. Blue states, red states, elephants and...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 04 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=259 The story is told of a dramatic turn of events after a break-in at an exclusive jewelry store. Not...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 03 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=258 In The Gospel According to Peanuts, Charles Schultz shows the competing philosophies among the c...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 02 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=257 I’ve led several mission trips with college students to Mexico City. We have gone as learners, not...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 01 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=256 I am not a careful gardener. That confession, my neighbors might contend, is a great understatemen...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 30 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=253 As I write, the 2007 World Series of baseball is under way. Players on the winning team will be re...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 29 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=252 In these verses, the apostle Paul uses first-century realities of slavery to describe the power of...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 28 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=251 In Deuteronomy 6, Moses instructs the people to teach their families about God’s faithfulness. He ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 27 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=250 As part of my job at the Mennonite Information Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I lead the tour ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 26 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=249 Today’s key verse offers a stark contrast to the val­ues of our contemporary way of life. From the...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 25 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=248 Whenever Susan sees a newborn baby, she asks, “Who does he or she look like?” Then she studies th...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 24 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=247 Enemies come in various guises. Some threaten bod­ily harm; others destroy one’s peace of mind. So...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 23 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=246 In the early 1900s, Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle of Elmira, New York, became the inspiration for the wel...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 22 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=245 Every so often, I hear the expression, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.” Wh...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 21 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=244 What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you? For the psalmist, it is a combination of be...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 20 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=243 Two boys, one cookie. In the eyes of one brother, the solution was simple—his brother could “be Je...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 19 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=242 Two small boys had their eyes on the same last cook­ie on the plate. Who would get the very last o...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 18 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=241 In 2007, a record 54,317 participants signed up for the Vancouver Sun Run, the largest 10-kilometr...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 17 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=240 Books on leadership are everywhere these days. From the best-selling Launching a Leadership Revolu...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 16 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=239 Whenever an individual or family in our small con­gregation moves, many of our members show up to ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 15 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=238 In our culture, people—especially men—are encour­aged to be strong. You’ve probably heard someone ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 14 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=237 In my growing-up years, my favorite holiday was Thanksgiving. Though my older adult siblings celeb...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 13 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=236 In high school, when I was a new Christian, I was determined to live rightly. I had little teachin...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 12 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=235 On a shelf in my office at home are several photos that I’ve placed in frames. Each is of certain f...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 11 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=234 The word mediator may seem bland if we’re used to hearing it applied to Jesus. But when we experie...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 10 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=233 Short as they are, “I am” may be the two most pow­erful words in Scripture. The Gospel of John rec...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 09 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=231 Many years ago I wrote the life story of Anna Shilstra, a doctor who lived in my hometown of Stein...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 08 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=230 I have an old family photo of my grandfather stand­ing on his farmyard in Gnadenthal, Manitoba, fe...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 07 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=229 “One of my objections to religion is that it prevents the search for God,” claimed Arthur Clarke, ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 06 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=228 On trips to the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Macau, I toured two homes owned by China’s first pr...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 05 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=227 I have a very old copy of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, which used to belong to my ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 04 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=226 Vo and Le Trung were our hosts when we attended an educational conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vie...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 03 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=225 I have no trouble remembering my sins, even those I committed a long time ago. I was six, for exa...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 02 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=220 Today’s reading contains one of the most frightening statements in the entire Bible. If it is poss...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 01 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=219 I am not ashamed of the gospel, and I am not ashamed to live out my faith. But sometimes I do stru...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 31 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=218 The top shelf of my desk holds several reminders of significant events in my faith journey. I have...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 30 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=217 The frenetic pace of modern North American life can leave one wondering if anything remains consta...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 29 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=216 I have gone spelunking, or cave exploring, exactly once in my life. And I wouldn’t even have gone ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 28 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=215 At a funeral for a good friend of mine, a stuffed green Kermit the frog sat in a prominent place a...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 27 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=135 Last fall in southern California, skies filled with smoke and an apocalyptic orange glow as wildfi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 26 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=134 In today’s reading, God promises many good things for the people of Israel, who have been in exile...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 25 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=133 When our family moved to a new farm, we had to borrow to make the down payment. We had clearly fel...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 24 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=132 Sometimes in my personal growth, I feel as though I am going in circles. I learn a lesson, continu...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 23 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=131 My husband’s comment after a meaningful devo­tional, Scripture, or hearty meal is often “Good stuf...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 22 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=130 How well I remember reading some obscure pas­sages in Paul’s writings when the Revised Standard Ve...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 21 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=129 The people of Israel, freshly returned from years of captivity in Babylon, are so eager to hear fr...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 20 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=128 This is a good word for Monday, the beginning of another workweek. Too often in my life, I have ta...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 19 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=127 As the young man emerged from the waters of bap­tism, he exclaimed: “Hallelujah, the work is done!...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 18 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=126 The last effort of the Roman Empire to stamp out orthodox Christianity ended in failure. Emperor J...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 17 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=125 According to one story, King George V once visited a British china factory. While viewing the deli...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=124 The story of Nehemiah amply illustrates how great work for God will attract great opposition. Nehe...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 15 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=123 Today the front page of our local paper bears the dramatic headline “Fraser River Rising Rapidly.”...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 14 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=122 It is a bad day for Nehemiah. His foes have again hurled insults at the builders of Jerusalem’s wa...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 13 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=121 “Get your golf clubs ready; your season is over!” That’s how a Vancouver Canuck player jeered at ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 12 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=120 Jesus is supposedly dead. His body has disappeared. The Romans and the Jews are blaming the discip...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 11 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=119 My niece, Matia, has always known exactly what she wants and makes it very clear to everyone. Once...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 10 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=118 Every week I lead a prayer group for women. We are fortunate to have several preschool children wh...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 09 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=117 There are many times when, like the psalmist, I pray for strength. God always answers my prayer, s...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 08 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=116 Recently, a young father in our congregation was diagnosed with cancer. He has an 18-month-old son...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 07 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=115 In the month following the September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, attendance at religi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 06 May 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=114 Our congregation’s beautiful new building has become my bane. I’m probably the only one who longs ...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 30 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=101 Two and a half million dollars! After a decade of planning for a church expansion project, includi...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxTue, 29 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=100 Today’s story of Haggai story reminds me of a Keith Green song based on Psalm 127:1: “Unless the L...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxMon, 28 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=99 We all know the problem of not being able to be at two places at the same time. Jesus certainly ex...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSun, 27 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=98 When I stood before Judge Burges in Manchester, England, I wanted to laugh because of the “mop” on...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxSat, 26 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=97 Elfrieda, my wife, was the only escort on the ill-fated ship, the Charlton Monarch, which took 758...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=96 Following World War II, I interviewed German-speaking refugees seeking to immigrate to Paraguay. O...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxThu, 24 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=95 When young children are fighting, a parent might put each one into a corner of the room until they...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxWed, 23 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=94 The eyes of [Adam and Eve] were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig le...http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspxFri, 08 Feb 2008 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Rejoice/tabid/118/Default.aspx?ItemId=12